The Universal Transverse Mercator Code: A location code for disease reporting.

Since November 1987, all rabies specimen reports submitted by Agriculture Canada's District Veterinary Officers have required a new location code, the Universal Transverse Mercator Code (UTMC). In addition to the previously required entries for county, district, legal address and mailing addresses, the new code is set up for computer analysis and mapping. It is capable of pinpointing the origin of the specimen to within 100 meters anywhere in Canada that is covered by the National Topographic System 1:50,000 maps. Because of its 100 meter spatial resolution, the code is of great interest to those studying the occurrence and spread of rabies. The code will also be important in the detailed planning and evaluation of the Ontario rabies control scheme, scheduled for 1988. Agriculture Canada anticipates that the UTMC will also be used for reporting other animal diseases as well as for emergency disease reporting.